Dinner time can be a war zone for some families.

But getting healthy foods on to your child’s plate shouldn’t have to be a battle, according to nutritional therapist Catherine Burns.

“Parents are desperately trying to get healthy food down on the table and children don’t want to eat it. That can become very stressful,” she said.

“Some parents stop trying at meal time and decide to just go with the easy option — the pizza, chicken nuggets and fries — because they don’t want the fight.

“Other parents are persisting, but feel guilty about what they are serving because the children are complaining and it’s not a fun atmosphere.

“I want to help to break that cycle where no one is having fun at dinner anymore and it’s a ‘you eat your vegetables or else’ scenario.”

Mrs Burns is offering two classes packed with tips on how to take the stress out of family meal times.

Parents will receive child-friendly recipes, basic information on what nutrients children need to develop and perform their best and ideas for how to make healthy eating more fun and affordable.

Her daughters Chloe, seven, and Belle, four, have been her primary taste-testers over the years.

Mrs Burns is quick to point out that although her girls eat Brussels sprouts, seaweed, quinoa and dark chocolate, healthy foods aren’t always a hit in their household.

“Chloe grew up loving avocado and now she looks at me like I’m poisoning her when I try to give it to her,” she said.

“It can be frustrating when one child loves something and the other doesn’t. Generally speaking they are really healthy eaters.

“They eat a good amount of fruit and vegetables and will ask me for broccoli, but they are by no means perfect. “It was certainly easier because I started out this way rather than making this transition.

“So one thing I will try to help parents do is change how the family is eating when they’ve already started out on the wrong foot.

“That involves an element of making it a fun adventure of food instead of something the children don’t want to do. I will show them how they can motivate their children with non food-based rewards like family play or movie dates.”

Mrs Burns will show parents how they can hide fruits, vegetables, proteins or good fats in meals if they need to.

Another tip she gives to parents is to play dinner games together so children look forward to those meals.

“When dinner time becomes more fun and relaxing that’s when you start interacting more as a family,” she said.

“My biggest tip for anyone trying to introduce their child to something new is to make sure that you give them that new item or ingredient with something familiar.

“If you are trying to give your children quinoa, serve it with chicken nuggets. That way they aren’t starving if they try it and don’t like it.”

When encouraging children to try something different, parents also have to honour their end of the bargain, Mrs Burns said.

“If you say ‘just try one bite’ and they try it and don’t like it, you can’t then tell them to try another bite. If you do that you take the trust away,” she said.

She decided to offer the classes after she was inundated with questions on the topic. She also knows the value that healthy eating can have on children.

“It’s easier for children to play with their friends and learn at school and run around on the playground when they have long-lasting energy and when their mood is even and they are able to focus in class,” she said.

“So for me it was an easy decision to go down that road with my own children because I knew it would be setting them up to get the best out of their day.”

She also plans to take participating parents to a grocery store so they can get more familiar with the healthy items available.

She will show how food packaging might have the right buzz words like “fat-free” and “made from 100 per cent juice”, but really be loaded with unhealthy sugars and dyes.

“One guideline I can give to parents is the shorter the ingredient list the better,” she said.

“An apple, for instance, doesn’t have an ingredient list, but if you are buying a granola bar with 25 ingredients in it that might not be such a good idea.”

• Each Natural Kids Nutrition Class lasts two hours. Parents pay $175 to attend two. People’s Pharmacy is paying for five parents who couldn’t otherwise afford the course, to attend. Interested persons should call 505-4725 or e-mail catherine@natural.bm. Visit www.natural.bm